Vacation, Summer 2016

This morning we got back from our vacation aboard the Grandeur of the Seas and I almost cried getting off that ship. I'm usually really happy to get home and ready to take on regular life, but this time I'm a little sad about it. There isn't really any particular reason other than I'm not ready to go back to the hum drum of every day life...but I suppose a lot of people feel that way coming home from vacation. 

A View of Baltimore from the Balcony

We set sail on July 7th and we sailed to Bermuda and then the Bahamas. We had four whole days at sea which was a bit hard on the kids. They didn't love being on the ship all day long and it was hard to keep them occupied for so many hours. There was lots of fighting between Harper and Dakota and there were a few moments I wished we'd never gotten on that ship but overall, it was a nice vacation.

Pool Deck

We've learned from past cruises that you should always have a bathing suit in your carry on bag because sometimes it takes awhile to get your suitcases delivered to your stateroom. As soon as we boarded the ship we had lunch and then changed into our swim suits to hit the pool! The mail pool on the Grandeur is pretty small and filled with salt water, a surprise for the little kids! There are also four hot tubs flanking the pool and those are fresh water. Two of the tubs are adults only and two are for kids and adults to use. My kids spent more time in the hot tubs than the pool most days. 

After swimming for a bit we went back to our room to see if our bags had been delivered; they hadn't. We ended up sitting in the room taking selfies while the two little kids explored all the nooks and crannies. We were on deck 7 this year. Our room was number 7066, the two big kids were across the hall in 7065 and Mema and Umpa were next door in room 7064. 

Once every door and drawer in the room had been opened and inspected by investigators Dakota and Harper, we took a stroll around the ship. The kids climbed up into the large porthole windows while we ordered drink and photo packages. 

We're used to eating pretty early at home so our dining time on the ship was at 5:30 p.m. each night. Our headwaiters name was Made (pronounced Mah-Day) and the second waiter was Luis (pronounced Luis). They were both very kind and did a good job waiting on our crazy group. 

After dinner that night we attempted to watch the show but Dakota was so tired she made us all miserable, so we left. I'd taken a sea sickness pill so it was making me drowsy and that too contributed to my miserable-ness. We ended up going to bed around 11pm that night and we woke the next morning to nothing but beautiful ocean...but, I'll write about day two tomorrow.